Over 100 children and families benefited from 6 weeks of literacy and nutrition courses.
2019 AVANCE-Austin summer program graduates
This year marks the 4th year in a row of hosting a literacy and nutrition summer program at AVANCE-Austin. A total of 110 children and parents learned new healthy messages and literacy concepts over 6 weeks using educational curriculum from the H-E-B Read 3 program. The program also brought other highlights, such as a family field trip to our neighborhood H-E-B Plus! store for a scavenger hunt, nutritional cooking demonstrations, and new books for our families to take home each week with the pledge to read at least 3 times during the week! Learn more about our other
programs.
Mil gracias to our friends at
H-E-B Read 3 for their partnership to make our summer programming possible!
Enjoying some new recipes from AVANCE-Austin’s summer program.
Nutritional Recipes
Families especially enjoyed the nutritional recipes and cooking demonstrations. Each week, friends from our local H-E-B on Riverside Drive, Gloria and Alex, stopped by to teach our moms how to prepare the snacks that they love in a healthier way, using wholesome ingredients.
View all of the 2019 HEB Read 3 recipes shared with our families.
Both Alex and Gloria have seen the impact AVANCE makes.
“This partnership and program is so important. We are setting families up for the future.”
-Alex Mendieta, H-E-B Employee, Austin #12
“We sometimes go out to nearby schools and meet with parents who are active within the schools. Many of them are from AVANCE.”
-Gloria Tobias, H-E-B Employee, Austin #12
An unforgettable field trip with life-long impact!
Exploring fruit through sight, touch, and smell.
During the 6-week literacy and nutrition summer program, our families embark on a special field trip to their local H-E-B store. Children learn about the everyday grocery items their parents use to make their snacks using each of their 5 senses. Families are able to distinguish between ripe and unripened bananas by the color, smell, and touch of the fruit. Parents also receive a particular task of comparing nutritional fact labels from behind some of their favorite products. The amount of sugar, carbohydrates, sodium, cholesterol, and protein in brand-named items were analyzed. Each group of families are often shocked that items marked as “low-fat” or thought to be more healthy are in fact, not.
La Graduación de Verano (Summer Graduation)
Check out our
Facebook Page to see a LIVE video from our summer program graduation ceremony! Our
H-E-B friends Gloria and Alex helped pass out certificates and backpacks filled with school supplies to each young graduate. Our children even walked away with a handmade graduation cap and t-shirt that relayed an impactful message: “H-E-B Read 3 Graduate Today…College Graduate Tomorrow!” We loved sharing this moment and know they have more graduation ceremonies ahead.
Community Support
Many thanks to
Austin Junior Forum for volunteering this summer to help our moms navigate the H-E-B store during the scavenger hunt and for creating graduation caps for each graduating child! Special thanks to Board Member Krista Moore for recruiting awesome AJF volunteers.
View more photos and videos from our summer program on our
facebook page.
